Cap-and-Trade: Recipe for Disaster, Economist Says

If you liked what Enron, AIG, and the Federal Reserve did to the economy, you’ll love cap and trade.

That’s the thrust of a new paper from Louisiana State University economist Joseph Mason. Cap-and-trade programs, like the one passed by the House and simmering in the Senate, pose a couple of big problems, he says: They don’t work, and they can gum up the rest of the economy. Like many economists, Dr. Mason pines for the elegance of a carbon tax to tackle climate change…